PASADENA — A NASA spacecraft is about to reach the end of a nearly eight-year journey and make the first rendezvous with a dwarf planet.
The Dawn craft will slip into orbit Friday around Ceres, a dwarf planet the size of Texas. Unlike robotic landings or other orbit captures, the arrival won’t ...

FRESNO — Water districts that serve 25 million Californians and vast farmland can expect to receive a fraction of the supplies sought from the state during the fourth year of the drought, officials announced Monday.
The State Water Project plans to deliver 20 percent of the requested amounts —...

GUATEMALA CITY — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Guatemala for a two-day visit with Central American presidents to discuss funding priorities aimed at slowing migration.
Last month, President Barack Obama included $1 billion for Central America in the budget request he sent to Congre...

OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska’s same-sex marriage ban was thrown into question Monday alongside those in three other nearby states that are set for a hearing together before a federal appeals court.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon struck down Nebraska’s constitutional amendment, triggerin...

BALTIMORE — Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a tough and dogged daughter of working class Baltimore who rose to become the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, said she had one question as she weighed seeking a sixth term: “Do I spend my time raising money, or do I spend my time raising hell?...

WASHINGTON — Speaker John Boehner left open the possibility Monday that the House might pass long-term funding for the Homeland Security Department without immigration provisions attached, as Republican options dwindled for avoiding a capitulation to the White House and Democrats.
Boehner decline...

WASHINGTON — Seeking to lower tensions, Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. officials cast their dispute over Iran as a family squabble on Monday, even as the Israeli leader claimed President Barack Obama did not — and could not — fully understand his nation’s vital security concerns.
“American l...

BAGHDAD — Backed by Iranian-supported Shiite militias, Iraqi forces launched a large-scale offensive Monday to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown from the Islamic State group, the first in a series of campaigns to try to reclaim large parts of northern Iraq from the Sunni extremists.
Previous at...

MOSCOW — The 23-year-old Ukrainian model who was with slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov tearfully recounted Monday their last dinner in a chic Red Square restaurant and their walk onto a nearby bridge — but said she did not see the gunman who pulled the trigger.
The emotional account by Ann...

BRUSSELS — Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement late Monday to ensure natural gas supplies to war-torn Ukraine for the month of March, averting possible cuts that could have hit supplies to the European Union.
The two countries have fought several gas price wars in past years and Moscow had be...

PLACENTIA — Authorities say the Southern California teacher who committed suicide by hanging in her classroom was a well-liked 31-year-old photography instructor.
Placentia police Lt. Eric Point says Jillian Jacobson, of Anaheim, was found in full cardiac arrest Monday morning.
Several students ...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A blind dog who wandered away from her Ester, Alaska, home during a cold snap has been reunited with her owner.
The 11-year-old Labrador retriever named Madera ventured away from home on Feb. 6, when the temperature dipped to 40 degrees below zero.
Her owner, Ed Davis, said h...